Ride or Die
by recumbentgoat
Summary: Uhura beams down to a research complex on an inhospitable ice planet as a last minute replacement to the landing party. This is early in the five year mission, everyone is still getting to know each other. Next story: The Only One Who Knows
1. A Last Minute Change

**Character/Pairing:** Uhura, Spock, Kirk, Scotty, OCs

**Rating:** T

**Summary:** Uhura beams down to a research complex on an inhospitable ice planet as a last minute replacement on the landing party.  
**Warning:** Violence! Swearing! UST!  
**A/N:** This is from Uhura's point of view. This is very early in the five year mission, Spock and Uhura are just getting to know each other.

**Winner of the first annual 2009 Halloween contest at the LiveJournal spock_uhura community!**

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'Scotty, could you just give me a minute? I've got to run back to my quarters and get some things.'

The engineer nodded at her from the captain's chair, his eyes still on the viewscreen, 'Aye, alright lass. But hurry up, the captain wants you down there on the double. There's a big comm problem you need to fix.'

Uhura left the bridge and ran back to her quarters to quickly change into her overalls. She hated being rushed like this and was uneasy with the task at hand. It had been agreed on beforehand that Ensign Ortiz would go down to the complex since she needed the practical experience, but at the last minute, the young woman fell ill and McCoy had her confined to Sickbay. She grabbed her tool bag, then headed for the transporter room.

She nodded to Lt. Kyle at the controls and got up on the transporter pad. It wouldn't be so bad, their communications were outdated, despite being a very prestigious research facility. At worst, she'd have to spend extra time reviewing their blueprints as she went along with making the upgrades.

'Energize.' The coldness of the beam seeped through her clothes, into her skin and the world slowly blacked out.

Then, the world faded back in and she was in the complex's transporter room, a starkly lit facility with the usual white walls and sleek lines. Suddenly, someone jostled into her from behind. She gasped as she heard a hiss, then felt a sharp scrape on her neck from something hard and pointy.

Before she could even turn around, she heard two things, a low moan and someone falling to the floor, but not before she breathed in something that left a metallic taste in her mouth.

She looked down and saw a woman, with a hypospray held loosely in her hand, lying face down on the floor.

With her left hand on her neck, Uhura pulled out her communicator with her other one, then looked back at her left hand. No blood. 'Enterprise, come in! Enterprise, please come in!'

The woman hadn't moved from the ground but Uhura kept close watch as she fiddled with the frequency. 'Scotty! Enterprise, come in!'

Finally, Scotty's faint voice came through, _'Enterprise. We canna hear you too well, Uhura.'_

'Scotty, I've been attacked, but I think I'm ok. The woman who attacked me is not responsive...' She nudged the woman with her boot, '...she's not responsive. Do you copy?'

The seconds ticked by, 'Enterprise, do you copy?' Uhura looked around the room as she continued fine tuning the frequency, and then to the door, it was chilly inside. And no one had appeared yet to come help. What the fuck was going on?

'Scotty! Please come in!' She waited as feedback from the communicator cleared, but only for a moment. It was Scotty, she was sure of it, but he sounded so faint and now the signal was intermittent. Finally, the connection went dead. Not even white noise, just dead air. _'Shit.'_

Crouching down next to the unconscious woman, Uhura rolled the woman onto her back. She looked to be in her thirties, human with light brown skin and dark hair pulled into a pony tail. She was wearing a dark grey uniform. A researcher, maybe? It was difficult to tell since this wasn't a military institution. She could've been anyone. Uhura shook the woman's shoulder, attempting to get a response. 'Hey!'

She stood up quickly and went down the transporter steps to the door. It swooshed open and she stood out in the corridor, looking up and down the empty halls. 'Hello?' She didn't like the way her voice echoed, but she waited to see if someone would walk by. With a facility of this size, there would be someone nearby who could help her.

Clearly there was something wrong with the woman to have attacked her. And where was the captain and Mr. Spock? It was like she'd stepped into a trap. Uhura shuddered and wondered what the hell could've been in that hypospray. Since she lost contact with the ship, she couldn't ask McCoy either, but she also didn't have her tricorder, so it wouldn't have helped anyway. She squinted, trying to peer all the way down the hall, looking for any movement. The floors and walls were rather glossy and off-white, with light clusters at periodic points along the ceiling.

Her ears were perked, straining to hear something. But, nothing. None of the sounds that a busy research complex would make. No footsteps or voices or even equipment. Unnerved by the eerie quiet in the hallway, Uhura went back inside the room. She'd take the hypospray with her and once she met up with the others, she could show it to them and get it analyzed.

She froze in her tracks as her eyes fell to the empty spot on the floor of the transporter pad. The woman was gone.

But then, not really gone. It was a credit to her aural sensitivity that alerted her to the small rustle behind her. As Uhura swung around to confront the woman, her eyes widened as she saw streams of dark fluid running down the woman's face and eyes. Horrified, she reached for her phaser and grabbed at the empty spot on her hip. _Fuck!_ She'd forgotten it in her room when she changed clothes.

The woman was upon her now, fetid breath hot on her face as Uhura grappled with her before stepping to one side, and then pulling her off balance to the floor. She fell and Uhura leaped onto the transporter pad to get the hypospray. She needed a weapon. Anything! She whirled around just as the other woman charged up the stairs, noises from her throat wet and garbled.

At the precise moment, Uhura brought the hypospray down on the woman's head. She had swung with all her might, completely committing to the movement of hypospray meeting head. She wasn't prepared though for the dull crack of shattering bone or the way the woman fell backwards full length along the floor. Her arms flopped outward.

Uhura stepped off the transporter pad, wishing she had her tricorder to get some readings on this woman. As she leaned over to inspect the woman's head, she jerked back as something popped on the woman's face, spraying a dark emission all over Uhura's pants. Something on the woman's cheek had split open.

Shocked, she backed up about ten feet and stared on in horror as the woman's body physically corrupted right in front of her. She couldn't explain the sudden putrefaction, such a thing should be impossible, yet here she was an unwilling witness to this terrible thing. She didn't know this woman, didn't know what caused her to attack, but she knew that this was someone's daughter and to see the human body decay in such a rapid manner was terrifying.

She squeezed her eyes shut and turned away just in time to avoid seeing the woman's abdomen finally burst from all the gas built up by the rapid decay. Nothing would ever make her forget the smell though, or the sounds being made as the flesh liquefied and oozed onto the floor.

Keeping her hand over her nose and mouth, she slowly turned back to look at the mess. There was a light steam rising from the remains. Mostly it was a large puddle of red and black goo on the floor. The bones seemed to have lost their rigidity as well, looking deflated and soft.

Holding tightly onto the hypospray and her toolbag, she started backing away. She couldn't stay any longer in this place. Uhura ran out into the hallway and after a moment of hesitation, turned right and headed down the corridor. She jogged for a bit, wanting to put distance between herself and the transporter room. She kept looking over her shoulder, but there was no one there.

Stopping, she caught her breath and tried hailing the ship again. Nothing. Finally, she hailed the captain and breathed a giddy sigh of relief when he answered.

_'Kirk here.'_

'Captain! Thank god I found you! I was just attacked in the transporter room by a woman who must've been infected by something. I fought her off, but then she just died...'

_'Where are you?'_

She looked around her, trying to find a sign or an indicator of where she could be. 'I'm not sure, I just left the transporter room and turned right. I'm still in the same corridor.'

_'Is Mr. Spock with you?'_

'No, Captain. No else was there in the transporter room and I haven't seen anyone since then. Captain, what is going on?'

_'Did you contact the ship?'_

'Yes, I tried raising them, but only got through to them once. I can't seem to reach Scotty again.'

_'You updated them on the situation?'_

'I tried to Captain, but I only told Scotty that I was attacked. I'm not sure what the situation is exactly...'

_'Someone will come get you.'_

'Sir, is everything okay? Where is everyone?'

But the link had been cut off and she couldn't raise him again. She looked over her shoulder, and waited. She paced up and down, then in a circle, waiting for someone. She squashed the frightened feeling that tightened her stomach. It occurred to her that something must've happened, that communications had been compromised, usually though, there was a code to use in such situations.

Why hadn't the captain used the code if he knew they were being listened to? If there was danger? How did she even know he hadn't been compromised himself? And why was it so cold in here? She could see her breath.

As she paced, out of the corner of her eye, there was a blur of movement. But it was only for a second, and it was at the far, far end of the corridor. She stopped and squinted. The layout of this place was ridiculous. Why set up corridors a half mile long? She waited and watched.

There was a tiny speck moving toward her. Fear turned her insides cold, it was a man running towards her. That much she knew. But she still couldn't tell who it was. Should she wait to see? It was the waiting that was terrifying. But she wasn't going to wait around to find out who he was and then be terribly wrong.

So she began to walk in the opposite direction. There was no way in hell she'd allow someone to roll up on her unawares like her previous attacker. She looked for a door, or a tangent hallway she could duck into. Shooting another glance over her shoulder, she started running full tilt down the corridor. She had to get away or find a hiding spot quickly. And she was at a severe disadvantage for having not studied the layout of the complex.

Panic began setting in as she could dimly hear his running footsteps now. He was getting closer and moving quickly at that. She found a door. Locked. The next door was to a hallway filled with more doors. Oh, living quarters. Ok!

Hope surged within her as she ran down the hall past a few doors and then tried each one. None would open. Of course they would all be locked. But she hit a door that wasn't and ran blindly into a pitch black room. The lights flickered on. Storage? Huge boxes that were once neatly stacked in rows were toppled haphazardly. What was this place?

But right now she needed a hiding place. She ran down one side and found an opening between the rows. It was a deep row and she got down on her hands and knees to crawl under a box that had fallen against another. She prayed that they were stable and wouldn't fall any further.

She crawled until she was able to stand again and edged deeper into the room. She took long, slow breaths, trying to quiet herself. Being in a tight space like this seemed to amplify the sound of her movements. Or maybe it was just her imagination.

Taking out her communicator, she flipped it open to look at the time. It had only been twenty minutes since her beamdown. She waited quietly for the man to come, wondering how long she should stay before emerging from her hiding place.

Leaning against a column of crates, she braced her forearm against the cool surface and rested her forehead on her arm. She closed her eyes and listened. The lights went out, the distinct click it made startled her. She screwed her eyes shut tighter, calmly telling herself that they were automatic and went off when no movement was detected. That's how it was in this facility, right?

She should only worry when they turn back on, right?

Waiting. Shifting from one foot to another. Counting backwards from 100. Thinking of her last evening off, where she spent it in the company of the very charming, Southern gentleman Dr. McCoy. She expelled a breath slowly, trying to release some tension. She would wait for an hour. If nothing happened, if no one came in, she would have to guess that it was safe. And then maybe she could leave and find Captain Kirk or Mr. Spock.

The stopover at Giotta was to have lasted for about half a day. The captain was friends with the director of the facility and she had been the one to answer Dr. Grant's hail when the ship established orbit. Giotta was an icebound planet with no indigenous people and few animals. Starfleet had built the research facility there given the highly classified nature of the work being done. There was less risk for exposure to a general population, save for the researchers themselves. The planet's system, while well within Federation space, was quite isolated and not on regularly trafficked routes.

Tired of standing in one place for so long, Uhura decided to ease deeper into the row. Maybe she can touch the wall and then come back. Just to see how wide the room was. It was like being Alice, the little girl Len told her about, who fell down the hole. She had fallen into a hole too, that's for sure.

As she tiptoed down the aisle, she resolved to find a computer. She needed information. First, she had to figure out the layout of this place. Then, she'd find a better weapon. Even though this was a research facility, they had to have some kind of security. She'd then make her way to the communications area and re-establish contact with the ship.

She breathed another slow sigh. It was getting better. The fear and adrenaline were starting to taper off and she felt on a stabler mental footing than she had been earlier. She shook off the images of the decaying woman. Once she got in contact with the ship, she'd get Scotty to send down a security detail and they'd go find Mr. Spock and the captain and get to the bottom of this. Maybe there were Klingons? But she doubted that any Federation enemy could've made it all the way to Giotta without being detected or the Enterprise not alerted.

She had stopped tiptoeing and was now walking faster, curious to see when she'd hit a wall. Ah, the row was coming to an end. Cautiously, she stuck her head out. It was dim in the storage room, but there wasn't a wall. There was about ten feet and _then_ a wall with a door. It was odd that there would be a storage room for equipment this big in the living quarters area.

There were about three hundred people who lived and worked at the complex. Perhaps there was an epidemic that wiped out the entire population? But if that were the case, why wasn't the Enterprise notified? If the Captain knew about it when he and Spock came down here, why hadn't they informed the ship of what happened?

She'd only managed to wait about fifteen minutes, but she took a deep breath anyways and then bolted towards the door. The lights flickered on and her boots rang out in the silence as they struck the floor. Belatedly, she realized she didn't have an end game for when she got to the door, what if it was locked? And to make matters worse, she'd impulsively ran like a scared little girl. For all she knew, she'd just given away her position to the very person she was hiding from.

But the door opened, thankfully, and she swung through it breathlessly. It was the cafeteria. She looked back over her shoulder, but still, there was nothing. Only a coldly lit storage room with giant black boxes. She felt simultaneously ridiculous for running and yet seriously creeped out by the silence. Uhura quickly shut the door behind her. Maybe this cafeteria had an office with a computer.

She ran by the tables and past the bank of food replicators, looking for an office. There was one in the back, the door slightly ajar. Finding no one in it, she sat behind the desk and tried accessing a layout of the place on the computer. Success. And sure enough, there was a security area nearby. She stared at the monitor memorizing the layout, closing her eyes to commit it to memory. She also looked to see where the administrative offices were, thinking that this could be where Kirk and Spock were located.

Suddenly, she looked up, there was a noise that came from the cafeteria. Quietly getting up from the chair, she slipped out of the office. She sure as hell wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. She really needed to keep a cooler head. Gripping her toolbag, she rooted around in it with one hand, grasping a pointy tool she could use to defend herself.

Looking out into the cafeteria, she could see no one there. But she decided she'd be safer if she waited to see if anyone came through. She started to look for a hiding place, when it occurred to her to try raising the ship again.

Getting out her communicator, she tried hailing the ship, whispering into it. But it still was the same. Situation Normal All Fucked Up. She was about to hail the captain again, when an arm snaked around her waist and her communicator was roughly taken from her hand.

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**A/N:** Be sure to visit my wordpress site that's linked on my profile. I've posted some really great pictures to go with this story. Thank you for reading! :D


	2. Kinemortophobia

**Character/Pairing:** Uhura, Spock  
**Rating:** T  
**Summary:** Uhura is found. The question is--by friend or foe?  
**Warning:** Violence! Swearing! UST! Italics!  
**A/N:** **Winner of the 2009 first annual Halloween contest at the LiveJournal spock_uhura community!**

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Gasping in surprise, she tried turning around, but was pinned firmly against a hard, lean body. The communicator was dropped to the ground and the man behind her stomped on it, crunching it under a heavy boot. She looked down at the arm around her waist, a blue sleeve with a commander's braid. Spock!

She was about to protest, when his hand clamped over her mouth and he lifted her up bodily. He smoothly carried her into a back room with a recessed door that led to god knows where. She closed her eyes, frozen with fear and prayed that there was nothing wrong with him. He could snap her like a twig.

The back of her head was resting against his shoulder, her feet dangling in the air. She was completely immobilized. Uhura wanted to ask him what the fuck he thought he was doing, but he simply stood there, with her in his arms, not moving a muscle. She could smell him. His body was very warm, like a heating pad, and he smelled faintly of aftershave. It was as though an eternity went by, and between his hand over her mouth and his firm hold around her waist, her eyelids were getting heavy.

She must've dozed off when she felt him move back, pressing into the corner of the recessed doorway, hiding them in the dark shadows. She kept her eyes closed, listening, trying to hear what he was hearing. Who was out there?

After a few more minutes passed, his breath was warm and soft in her ear, _'I am going to let you down. You will not make any noises if I do so?'_ She shivered as his lips moved, the plosive sounds tickling her ear. He waited until she nodded and he removed his hand from her mouth.

He lowered her to the floor and she felt light headed from being held tightly for so long. She turned too quickly and swayed as she shook her head clear of the sleepiness. Instinctively, she reached out and clutched his forearm for a moment to steady herself. Uhura looked up at him questioningly.

Spock whispered, 'Are you well Lieutenant Uhura?' He looked so stern with his furrowed brow and his shadowed face. He really had that demonic air about him.

She shook her head and whispered back, 'I was attacked, Mr. Spock. When I beamed down, a woman came from behind and attacked me...'

'With what?'

'Well, with a hypospray, then she collapsed. I went to get help, but there was no one. I hailed the ship....'

'You were able to contact the ship?' He seemed faintly surprised.

'Yes, but only very briefly, before the signal faded. I managed to tell Scotty that I was attacked, but I don't know if he heard me.'

'Have you seen the captain?'

She was about to answer him, but stopped, 'First, you tell me what exactly is going on here.' This felt suspiciously similar to the way the captain had pumped information out of her.

At that, Spock's eyebrows climbed into his bangs, then he stepped forward into her personal space and leaned over her, 'Lieutenant, I am giving you a _direct_ order to answer my questions.'

Though they had carried on the conversation in hushed tones, Spock had no problem conveying his authority.

Startled at his nearness, she backed up only to hit the other wall. But she didn't break her defiant stare, 'Commander, I need to know that you are who you _say_ you are.'

After a few beats, he relented and shifted back upright. Though he was still unnecessarily close to her. His slitted, obsidian eyes glinted down at her as he waited for her to ask.

'Why isn't the captain with you?'

'When we beamed down, we were greeted by Dr. Grant and his colleague Dr. Perry. Captain Kirk went with Dr. Grant, presumably to inspect the specimens that were to be transported up to the ship.'

'And then? Why didn't you go with him?'

'Dr. Perry insisted on giving me a tour, as it were, of the facility. It was a rather flimsy pretext to separate and disarm us, but I had no reason to suspect otherwise, given the captain's long standing friendship with Dr. Grant.'

'You know that for sure? That they captured Kirk? Why would they do that?'

Spock reiterated, 'Have you seen the captain, Lieutenant?'

'No, I haven't. I raised him once and told him where I was and that I contacted the ship to tell them what happened. And that I wasn't sure if they heard me. That's it. He told me to wait. That someone would come get me.' She hugged herself, 'I didn't think he'd actually try and _get_ me.'

'Indeed. We will contact the ship. The communications room is on the other side of the facility...'

'Wait, Mr. Spock. What happened to the captain? And how did you find me?'

'I was monitoring your presence. The captain was also tracking you by your communicator transmissions.'

'And you...you got to me first....' Afraid again, she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, imagining that Kirk was now infected like that woman.

'Yes.'

'What happened with Dr. Perry? How did you escape him?'

'I imagine that the woman who attacked you expired much in the same way as Dr. Perry.'

Uhura canted her head and frowned, 'You saw her body?'

He nodded and continued, 'Dr. Perry attacked me, but I subdued him rather easily. I went to examine the body when it rapidly decomposed...'

'And mine sprayed something on me...'

'It did not make contact with your eyes or mouth...?'

'No, no, it didn't...' She thought back for a moment again, just to be sure.

'Good, if it had, I do not know if you would be saved from infection.'

She pressed her hand to her forehead, 'Ok, wait a minute, please tell me how you found me.'

Spock held up something that looked like a modified communicator, 'I took this from Dr. Perry and tracked you to the living quarters, it may be faulty though, as I lost your signal for several minutes, then you surfaced in the cafeteria...'

'I was in the storage area, Mr. Spock. Why couldn't you find me, what if the captain had found me first, what would he have done to me? And how did you know that they were tracking us by our communicators?'

Spock flipped open the cover of the gadget, 'Here, you see? It marks where your signal was last broadcast, in the cafeteria. This is why I destroyed your communicator. I believe someone else was tracking you as well, but lost you in the living quarters. Where were you hiding?'

'I don't know, I just lucked out, it was some kind of storage area with these big black boxes. It was odd that they would store equipment there. It certainly didn't look like it was for personal stuff.'

'Interesting.' He frowned and folded his arms, looking downward, deep in thought.

'Mr. Spock? Does that mean something?' She watched as his hand stroked his jaw, noticing the fine, black stubble.

'Perhaps. The captain spoke of transporting specimens up to the ship. Perry and Grant were heading up top secret research in tissue regeneration.'

Startled, she asked, 'Tissue regeneration? That's it? Isn't that kind of commonplace? People get skin and fingers regenerated all the time....'

He cut her off, 'This was more complex. They were regenerating whole organisms...'

'Like cloning?'

He shook his head, 'No...not like cloning. Regenerating damaged tissues and organs after brain death.'

Astounded, she drew back, 'Whoa. What?! This is a fucking _zombie_ factory?!'

Spock drew himself up stiffly, 'No, _Lieutenant_, there are no _zombies_ here. Starfleet has committed considerable resources to this facility in order to help sustain the life....'

'No way, Mr. Spock. I know what I saw in that transporter room. That wasn't a woman anymore, that was a thing masquerading as a human. And there's nothing altruistic about this, this goes beyond just squeezing extra life from 'fleet personnel, for godssakes. This is completely unethical.' She tried to shutdown the surging fear and adrenaline in her, but the clipped conversation she was having with Spock was only making her incredibly tense.

'You have not seen the research...'

'And you have?', she shot back. 'You're willing to say that after Perry tried taking you out?'

'I am not defending their actions, nor was I privy to their true intentions, I am merely _pointing out_ that their research was not intended to generate _zombies_. It is also pure speculation on your part that they _are_ so-called zombies.' He arched his eyebrow at her. 'And yes, I _have_ seen the research in Perry's lab. Though the captain and I were completely unaware of its nature until we beamed down.'

'So just what _exactly_ were you supposed to bring back with you to the ship?' Her hands were on her hips now.

He frowned openly, 'Are you _interrogating_ me, Lieutenant?'

She felt a prickle go down her spine at the bass in his voice, 'No, Mr. Spock. I am _merely_ trying to get up to speed. I don't like being kept in the dark. I don't like surprises. I _don't_ like people trying to _kill_ me. And I don't like fucking _zombies_. So help me god, I will shoot the next thing that moves against me...'

'You will do _no_ such thing, Lieutenant. Our first priority is contacting the ship. Besides, you do not have your phaser....'

'I'm pretty handy, Mr. Spock.' Her bravado rang hollow, even to herself and she folded her arms back across her chest.

'I also notice you do not have your tricorder, which are required tools on away missions.'

'You'll also notice that I'm not Ensign Ortiz either. She got sick and I had to take her place. And while I _usually_ bring my tricorder and phaser with me on _all_ my away missions, I was told that these would be optional. We were coming down to a Federation facility not some unexplored planet.'

'That is no excuse for forgetting...'

'It's been an all around crappy day, Mr. Spock. Believe me, no one regrets my forgetfulness more than I do. Now, are we going to get some phasers and find out what happened to Kirk? Or are we going to stand around here and _debate_ all day?'

He actually stared at her for several seconds and although she was mildly shocked at her own temerity in this terse tete a tete with a superior officer (after all, she'd been the one to insist on the details), she was angry about the situation. Then, she remembered the hypospray. Uhura reached into her toolbag and brought it out, holding it towards him.

'This is the hypospray, Mr. Spock. Whatever was in it discharged and I breathed some of it in. Was this similar to what Perry used on you?'

Spock took it from her and brought the nozzle of the hypospray to his nose and sniffed delicately. 'Interesting, it could be a neuromuscular blocker.' He picked up the tricorder that was hanging at his side and took a reading. 'Yes, you were quite fortunate that she did not inject you.'

She thought for a moment, 'It's a....it's for paralysis?'

He nodded, 'Yes, and not a tranquilizer either. Apparently, they needed you unable to move, but still conscious.' He watched her for a moment, 'You said you breathed this in?'

'Yes, why?'

'What are you feeling?'

She shrugged, 'I feel okay. I'm not nauseous or dizzy or anything. Why?'

'Side effects are generally fear, irrationality and paranoia.' He waited expectantly.

She gave him an annoyed look, 'Well, I guess in _normal_ situations that would be cause for concern, Mr. Spock. But within the scope of human responses to a screwed up situation, mine are well within the accepted range.' She raised her eyebrow at him and asked again, 'Did Perry try to use the same thing on you?'

'No, he did not, but he died before I could ascertain the reason for his attack.' He broke off and looked around the corner of the door for a moment, extending his other arm to push her back into the shadows.

Quickly, he looked back at her and silently motioned her to open the door. They slipped through quietly and Spock stood at the door he left cracked open, listening.

They were in another lab, a small one though. She looked at the equipment and the empty chairs. It was so innocuous and so utterly impossible that every single researcher, technician and staff person would simply up and disappear. She looked around for weapons.

Then, she felt Spock's hot, dry hand envelope hers and she looked up at him startled. Of all the things she knew about Vulcans, and particularly _this_ Vulcan, is that they never initiated physical contact, especially skin on skin. Touch telepaths were very sensitive and it was in fact, generally taboo to touch one. She was about to ask him what he was doing, when he brought a long, tapered index finger to his compressed lips in a shushing gesture.

He turned and calmly led her through the maze of lab equipment and work spaces. She followed his lead and matched his quick pace, careful not to catch her toolbag on anything when they turned corners. His knowledge of the space was impressive and she was momentarily envious at his ability, since she was struggling to recall the layout. Occasionally, he would stop and consult the gadget, but seemed satisfied that they weren't being followed.

She wanted to ask him just how long this game of cat and mouse could go on. Surely, by now whoever had Kirk would realize that she had not been injected by the dead zombie woman. And that Perry had failed in subduing Spock for whatever nefarious purposes were at work here.

But she refrained from speaking, as they had emerged from the lab onto another long, white corridor. She stood behind Spock, peeking around his shoulder. They quickly crossed the hall and continued into another lab. Uhura wondered if he was re-tracing his steps and knew where to find the open doors.

As it was, she could only grip Spock's hand tighter and jog to keep up with his long-legged strides. She tried not to notice his lean hips, muscular thighs or the way his black pants hugged his tight little butt. She never thought she'd ever get this up close and personal to the Vulcan. While she had served with him for about a year, she never saw him around on the ship in social situations.

Spock was an impeccable science officer, fair to be sure as CO, but also a little feared by the rest of the crew. She had tried being friendly with him once, flirting with him on the bridge and trying to get him to talk about himself and his experiences with Captain Pike, but he was very standoffish. Later, McCoy told her that even Kirk didn't really know what to make of him, that Spock was a very private person.

Not as though that ever stopped other women from trying. She definitely noticed how her new friends, especially Christine Chapel, had taken to checking him out and gossiping relentlessly about him. Surely someone as handsome as he would be aware of his effect on the opposite sex, that is, if he even swung that way, and there were some speculation on _that_ too.

Uhura bumped into Spock when he stopped abruptly and turned to her, whispering, 'Across the hall is security. We get two weapons each. Choose wisely as we have to carry these everywhere. Make sure they are fully charged. You have three minutes and then we move on. Ready?'

She nodded up at him and let go of his hand, getting ready to run again, but he only grabbed back her hand and ran so quickly, that he almost dragged her across the hall. But she understood his intention, she needed to keep as close to him as possible, as it would be detrimental, especially for her, if she were to get separated from him. They got into a good rhythm though, for every running step he made, his pull on her body increased the length of her stride.

And they were in. It was an easy decision too. Like picking out dessert. She pulled two phaser rifles off the wall and slung one across her back so it nestled alongside her toolbag. She waited as he picked out a phaser, then grabbed a bag and filled it with the rest of them.

Taking her hand again, he led her out of security. Uhura was starting to think that maybe Spock was forming a plan, but she couldn't exactly ask him to share it with her just now. They were running and she could only follow blindly.

When they stopped, she was breathing hard and getting tired. 'Where are we?'

'We are north of the transporter room, near communications.'

After she caught her breath, 'Don't you think we should find the captain first? Just what exactly is the game plan? And how do you know we're not being tracked 'cuz of that gadget you got off of Perry?'

'I do not know if we are or not. The plan is to complete the original task you were called for, upgrading the communications. Once you have finished, we will call the ship and send for a security detail.'

'Spock, we're running out of time. Pretty soon the powers that be are going to figure out that we've joined forces to throw a wrench into their evildoing and then they're going to come for us....'

He shot her a look, 'Then, I suggest you begin your work _now_, Lieutenant.'

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A/N: My wordpress homepage that's linked on my profile has some great pictures posted with this story. When you get to the wordpress page, just look for the title under the chronology of stories. Thanks again for reading! :D


	3. Suspicious Minds

**Character/Pairing:** Uhura, Spock, Kirk, McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Charlene Masters, OCs  
**Rating:** T  
**Summary:** Uhura and Spock deal with unexpected developments. Uhura struggles for closure.  
**Warning:** Violence! Swearing.  
**A/N:** **Winner of the 20009 first annual Halloween contest at the LiveJournal spock_uhura community!**

* * *

Uhura worked quickly. After she had set aside her annoyance with Spock and her fear of the situation, she channeled all her angry energy into her work. For someone like Ensign Ortiz, the job could've easily taken three hours, but for Uhura, newly appointed chief communications officer, the task had taken only fifty minutes.

Spock had taken one of her rifles and stood watch at the door, resting the butt of the phaser on his hip casually, while the long black barrel pointed upwards. A logical gangster.

But she was focused on getting the upgrade to work, completely trusting Spock to watch out for them. It was a rush job, very unlike her usual methodical approach, and it was always risky to work this way. One mistake could set her back, but she was already onto the testing phase.

They didn't have communicators, but they could use the main unit to send a signal to the ship. She told Spock that she was ready and he nodded his permission back to her.

'Enterprise, do you read me? Come in Enterprise.' She tried it a few more times, but there was no response. 'Spock, maybe something's jamming us? I've tested this equipment and everything's in working order.'

'Set up an emergency distress call on repeat. Then prevent anyone from overriding the call.'

She nodded and punched in the requisite codes, 'Done.'

'Good work, Lieutenant. Come get your gun. Now, we head west and find the captain.'

'What about finding what's jamming us?'

'We will do that too.'

She gathered up her tools and slung her bag and extra gun onto her back. Taking her rifle back from Spock, she gripped it firmly in both hands and nodded to him.

As they set out, she noticed that Spock wasn't going quite as fast. They were still walking quickly and staying away from the main corridors, but he was looking for something. Suddenly, he stopped and, after ordering her to remain where she was, he left her.

She kept her cool at first. But after a minute ticked by she found the silence too oppressive. Fearful, she backed up against a wall and waited for him. She held the length of the rifle against her chest tightly, eyes on the door.

When he returned to her, breathless from running, he stopped cold when he saw her. 'Uhura?'

'You don't leave me like that again. Understand?' The look on her face must've been fierce, for he only nodded silently.

Then, he gently took her by the arm and brought her out into the hall. There was a wheeled Electronic Vehicle there, quite compact, though it had a small flatbed in the back for transporting things. She smiled slightly at Spock.

'Thank you, Mr. Spock. Thank you so much.' She had to hand it to him, as a CO he knew how to look out for his crew. Maybe he had felt her tiredness through their touch.

He merely nodded at her and took back her rifle, 'You drive Uhura, I will ride shotgun.' He took his place in the passenger seat, rifle poised on his arm, at the ready.

Surprised at his idiomatic expression, she answered back, 'Ride or die, Mr. Spock.' Ignoring his arched brow, she hopped into the driver's seat and took over the controls.

They whizzed along the secondary halls, neither of them speaking. He gave hand signals to direct her. After reaching the other side of the research facility, he held up his hand and she stopped.

His voice low, 'This is where Kirk's signal is coming from.' He looked at her unsure, 'You may stay here if...'

'No. I'm coming with you.' She was up and walking around the EV to stand next to him, whispering, 'Should I go in first and you go in another way?'

Nodding, 'Yes, wait one minute and then go in. Find Kirk first. Do not engage Dr. Grant. Leave him to me.' He darted down the hall, entering through another doorway.

She counted to one hundred slowly, breathing in deep once, then entered the office. It was the smell that hit her first, like a wall. Then, the heat. The heat exacerbated the smell, a putrid scent of sickly sweet coffee and rotting...something. Her rifle at the ready, she searched the empty outer office, then opened and peeked through a set of double doors.

Most of the lights were out, but she could see it was a mess inside. The smell alone almost stopped her. Uneaten food, books and padds strewn about, furniture overturned and clothing tossed around, someone had been living in here like an animal. Possibly Dr. Grant. How long had this been going on without anyone's knowledge? _What_ was going on? Finding no one there as she swept through, she headed towards another door that was ajar, with light coming from the other side.

Suddenly, there was a hoarse shout, that was unintelligible but urgent. She ran out onto a metal staircase overlooking another lab, and was confronted with a scene of Spock engaging in a fight with a bearded man, dressed in a grey uniform.

Nearby, on a table was Kirk. Even from where she stood, she could see that he had been beaten badly, his gold command shirt torn at the shoulder, his face swollen and bloody. She ran down the stairs to his side, giving Spock and the grunting mad man wide berth.

His deranged shouting echoed in the expansive lab. How they'd been dead, that they'd always been dead. He was going to leave and take his creations with him. He was going to kill them all, that they had no right to take it from him.

Uhura shut out the yelling man and looked down at Kirk's battered face. She put her hand on him and leaned over, 'Captain! Captain Kirk! Please wake up!' But Kirk did not stir.

He was strapped down on some kind of biobed, she looked up trying to determine his readings but it was difficult to understand since the indicators were nothing like she'd ever seen.

The silence caught her attention and she looked back over to Spock. He was standing over the prone body of the man. He leaned over and placed his hand on the man's face.

'Spock! What are you doing?!' She rushed over to his side, looking down at the man. 'Who is he? Are you sure you want to mindmeld with a disturbed man?'

'I appreciate your concern, Lieutenant. However, there are some things I must learn from Dr. Grant.' His gaze flicked over to Kirk, 'How is the Captain?'

'He's alive. Let me have your tricorder though because I can't understand the readouts over there.'

He gave her the tricorder and she went back to Kirk. He had been given the paralyzing hypospray. Possibly a concussion. Bleeding and swelling. Cracked rib. But it was the paralysis that worried her. She studied the tricorder. Oxygen content was quite low. His chest barely moved and she put her ear next to his mouth. He was barely breathing, likely dying. There was nothing she could do.

She decided then to scan the lab for the jamming signal. Shutting that down would get Kirk help faster. After several minutes and many confusing tricorder readings, she began a systematic search of the lab, looking for the signal jammer.

Uhura needed to check on Spock, but he had ended the meld already, his ears flushed a dark green.

Without a spare glance to her, he went over to Kirk's table and began searching through the clutter. She left him to his task.

It was inconspicuous. She could not believe that such a small piece of equipment could be jamming signals from a starship. Picking it up, she examined the device closely. It was nothing like she'd ever known, perhaps it was alien technology? She dropped it to the ground and smashed it with the heel of her boot, which did absolutely nothing. She blasted it with her shotgun, leaving a blackened hole burned into the floor.

At this point, a klaxon wailed out into the silence. Startled, Uhura looked up thinking her phaser blast had set off a security warning. She ran back to Spock, who was still busy by Kirk's side, disconnecting Kirk from the biobed. His color had improved, it looked as though Spock treated some of his more serious injuries.

'Spock, what happened? The alarms have gone off....'

'Yes, Uhura, my hearing is functioning. I think I have been able to reverse the effects of Grant's machine on Kirk.'

Just then, there was a low rumble and they looked at each other.

'Can we move him and get out of here?' She wouldn't bother asking what that noise was.

'Yes.'

'What about Grant?'

'Dead.'

Spock had Kirk over his shoulder in a fireman's lift and she followed him out of the lab. They were hurrying back to the EV, when she stopped and exclaimed to Spock to come back and look at the security screens.

He came and stood next to her, Kirk's arms dangling.

There was no mistaking the wandering figures.

'This is coming from the living quarters! Where the hell did they come from?!'

'Perhaps I activated something when I disconnected Kirk from Grant's machine....'

'Jesus, Spock, we've got to get back to Comm and get Scotty!'

But he had turned away and was running to the EV.

Uhura got into the driver's seat as Spock put Kirk carefully onto the flatbed. She was already pressing the accelerator when Spock hopped into the passenger side.

She drove as fast as the EV could go, with Spock occasionally telling her to slow down, else Kirk may slide off the flatbed. She finally snapped at Spock to get back there and hold Kirk in place. He silently complied, but she didn't miss the look he gave her before he crawled onto the flatbed. She'd be damned before she'd slow down.

Just then there was another awful sound of rumbling, enough that it shook the building. Alarmed, she looked at Spock in her rearview mirror.

Spock was looking down at his gadget, 'Turn around, Lieutenant! Go back to the living quarters.'

She braked, the EV screeching to a halt, 'Spock, I'm trying to get us home. You're sending us back into the goddamned breach!'

'Uhura! I am ordering you back to the living quarters! Now!'

_'Fuck.'_ She took off her spare shotgun hanging at her side and put it next to her on the seat as she swung the EV into a U-turn in the middle of the corridor. She drove with one hand on the wheel and the other on her phaser rifle.

When they got close, it was every bit of a nightmare that Uhura had imagined. It was now frighteningly cold as they approached the living quarters. Now, she could see why. A giant hole had been blasted through the wall and she could hear the distinctive sound of a spaceship outside.

They couldn't get close without dealing with the walking dead. Spock cautioned her not to shoot them, but she kept her gun trained on them as she steered the EV in a wide circle from the few that milled around in the corridor.

She drove past them, right into the storage room and her jaw dropped when she saw that most of the black crates were gone. There were a few of them left opened, and she drove by to look. Melted people, body parts everywhere, black puddles on the floor. The intense cold couldn't stifle the stench emanating from the boxes.

Spock leapt out down from the flatbed and ran toward the spaceship.

'No! Spock!' But Spock was already running up the ramp that extended from the ship through the hole into the storage room.

Just as she was about to floor the accelerator and drive the EV up the ramp, Spock came running back out yelling to turn around and drive back to Comm. It was an order she was only too happy to comply with. At his exhortations, she increased her speed, but feared he would get left behind. He was panting hard when he jumped inside.

'What did you do, Spock! What happened in there?!'

'There is a man in that ship! He has taken the black boxes. We must alert Mr. Scott to ensure it does _not_ take off!'

But there was another problem. The walking dead were perking up. And they looked downright hostile and focused. The sides of the EV were doorless, so Uhura and Spock stuck their guns out and fired simultaneously at the zombies that charged towards them.

'Spock, what the fuck happened? Why are they attacking us now?!'

'He is controlling them! Drive!'

She plowed through them, bracing herself as the EV was rocked side to side from the bodies it hit at top speed. Sickened by the crunch of bones and the black fluids smeared on the windshield, she gulped as she tried to avoid throwing up.

But she kept her head and kept on firing as she drove. Spock crawled back onto the flatbed to keep Kirk from being dragged off by the running zombies. She could hear him firing his phaser at them, and the bodies falling on the ground. Then, a huge explosion came from behind, an orange fireball appearing in her rearview mirror. She pressed the accelerator harder.

The zombies were having a hard time keeping up, and she looked into the mirror in time to see Spock throwing a phaser. She braced herself for another explosion, but the impact lessened with the distance.

Comm was around the corner, she turned sharply, then gasped when she saw Spock lurch in the mirror and then fall. Cursing, she backed up, ready to run out and see how badly he was hurt. But he was up and limping back to the flatbed.

Feeling guilty, she drove a little slower. But it didn't matter, they were there. She ran into the room and tried hailing the ship.

'Scotty, come in! Come in Enterprise!'

_'Enterprise! Scotty here, what's going on, Uhura?'_

'There's a spaceship about to take off, Scotty. Make sure you capture it!'

_'I'm sorry, lass. It's gone! We weren't even aware it was on the surface. We only spotted it seconds ago. It ignored our hail and then went into warp! It was incredible!'_

Another explosion sounded outside. Closer. Then, Spock ran in with Kirk slung over his shoulder.

'Scotty, scan for our readings and beam us up now!' She could hear the the sounds of running. She raised her gun and prayed for the transporter beam to take them.

* * *

McCoy kept her confined in Sickbay along with Kirk. She told him that she was fine, but he made her lie down and gave her a sedative. She was feeling good. Kirk, however, was not, and she watched Spock and McCoy huddle near his biobed, lowly discussing what they planned on doing. She slowly nodded off.

When she awoke, Spock was gone. So was Kirk. She frowned, wondering what they had done to him that he recovered so quickly. She wanted to get up and go back to her room, but she was exhausted, and confused. She stared up at the ceiling.

There were so many questions that remained, and she went over them again and again. What had been Kirk and Spock's orders? What had happened on that spaceship? Who was the man that Spock saw? How had he controlled the zombies? Why had he stolen the boxes that, presumably, had been filled with the altered corpses of the research population. If it was so important, why hadn't Spock been able to stop him? Why?

She shuddered at the thought that somewhere in the universe, Grant's technology was out there, ready to wreak havoc. What possible reason could Starfleet have concocted for allowing this to occur? Surely, they must've know what Grant and Perry were up to. You couldn't just build and fund a massive complex like that and recruit hundreds of scientists for the sole purpose of killing them to carry out experiments. Right? Or had it been a virus and Grant merely an opportunistic and unethical scientist? And then, for someone to come in and steal the technology. How did they even _know_ to come to Giotta? It wasn't exactly a known destination. This had to have been done on inside information. But that would mean there were rogue agents operating within Starfleet.

Uhura shook her head. She felt horribly for the researchers' families. They'd always have questions and knowing Starfleet, they'd get stonewalled for straight answers. She hated feeling like this, waiting for that other shoe to drop. She sat up and flagged down a nurse, telling her she was ready to go back to her quarters.

Armed with sedatives to aid her sleep, Uhura sat at her computer and filed her report. She hadn't seen Kirk or Spock since returning from Sickbay and hadn't been up to the bridge either. McCoy had nipped that right in the bud, telling her that he'd taken her off duty for a couple of days. She had smiled in relief and hugged him, which only made him laugh.

Double checking her report, she signed and submitted it to the captain and Spock. After thinking for a few moments, it occurred to her that her position as chief comm officer was indeed privileged. So, she accessed the archive and found that Kirk had received an eyes-only message from Starfleet Headquarters about a week before the stop at Giotta. He'd also received another one some hours after they'd beamed back to the ship. She wondered what his orders had been.

She opened up her report again, re-checking it. Then, opened up the captain's and Spock's, only to find large sections of it redacted. She sighed, frustrated, but stopped when her eyes fell to the bottom of Kirk's report. The research facility had burned down because of the phaser explosions set off by Spock. None of the research data, equipment or bodies had been recoverable. A knot began forming in her stomache, had she just participated in a cover-up? This was not what she'd signed up for when she joined Starfleet.

Thinking quickly, she pulled up the captain's log when Scotty had spoken to her. They hadn't been able to identify the make of the ship, nor had they been able to track it since they hadn't expected such a small ship to have something akin to warp technology.

But she definitely got an idea of how Starfleet was going to handle this situation when she called up the map for the quadrant. It had been updated. Giotta was gone. A ghost planet. Sickened, she got up and paced. Just like that, an entire planet was redacted and everything swept under the rug. She was angry.

Her door chimed. She was surprised to see that it was Spock. Uhura invited him in and she waited for him to speak.

'You will cease looking into the Giotta matter. It is over.'

It was like getting a punch in the gut. She'd just risked her life on a mission where she may have participated in something very illegal. She squelched her anger though. Should've known that the information had been setup for red flags. But she could only look away, wondering now about this Vulcan's complicity.

'Uhura....' Spock stopped, 'I understand your concerns. We all did what we could with the information at hand. Nothing could have been done to save them.'

'Maybe. I just keep thinking of that first woman. Her family, and how they'll never know the truth of the horrible things that happened to her.' She shuddered, thinking back to the coldness of that place and the surreal events that had happened only a few hours ago.

'Despite your confusion and fear, you still performed adequately. Upgrading their communications and re-establishing contact with the ship is what ultimately saved all of our lives.'

She smiled tentatively, not expecting his praise. And still feeling guilty for causing his fall off the back of the EV.

'Please forgive Dr. McCoy in confiding to me your secret fear of zombies.'

At that, her smile vanished, along with her guilt, 'What?! He told you that?! That's private, damnit!' She'd have words with that meddling doctor.

'As your _commanding_ officer, it is information that I needed to include in my report, especially since an explanation was required to explain your rather....mutinous...responses to my decisions on Giotta.' He arched his brow at her, as if daring her to reply.

Damn the Vulcan for leaving her tongue-tied! She was about to answer him back when her door chimed again. Her tart reply thwarted and probably for the better, she sighed and answered the door, only for it to reveal a relaxed Kirk, who was leaning against her door jamb.

'Hey, Uhura! Guess what today is!' He was grinning at her and she reproached herself as her misgivings about him fell away easily.

She smiled back at him, amused at his unabashed enthusiasm, 'Hello, Captain, tell me what day it is.'

''S'halloween! You got a treat for me? 'Cuz I've already gotten tricked!' He held out his hand to her expectantly. 'Oh hey, Spock. How're you?' He chuckled when Spock's eyebrows rose into his bangs.

Uhura closed her gaping mouth. The captain was a just a tad tipsy. Her suspicions were confirmed when her door chimed again and McCoy, Scotty and Sulu invited themselves in. Scotty was carrying his bottle of Saurian brandy. McCoy, his bottle of good Kentucky bourbon. Sulu tried popping a piece of candy corn into her mouth as he passed, but she laughingly waved him off. She stifled a grin when Spock hastily excused himself after Kirk asked him if he liked to trick or treat.

After Spock left, Kirk clapped her on the shoulder as the others laughed from her couch, 'Hey there, lady. Jus' wanted to thank you for saving my life down there. Know it was a hard mission. 'Specially with Spock.' He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, then spread his arms, like he wanted to hug her.

She let him hug her, thinking that maybe he'd had just as hard a time with this mission as she did. Her door chimed and everyone laughed again, half in the bag. Scotty had already helped himself to some extra glasses and was pouring shots out. Sulu didn't even bother with a plate, he just spilled the candy onto her coffee table, then started arranging them into a pretty flower shape.

At the door was Charlene Masters with a deck of cards and a tray of poker chips, 'Hey there! Sulu told me there was a party going on in your room to cheer you up. Hope you don't mind poker. Maybe some strip poker if I can get these boys liquored up.' Charlene giggled when McCoy cheered at that.

Resignedly, Uhura beckoned her in with a jerk of her head. Uhura got her little card table out along with her folding chairs. Her misgivings hadn't gone away, but she greatly appreciated how her friends were trying so hard to help her forget how her nightmare had come alive on Giotta.

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A/N: Please be sure to visit my wordpress homepage that's linked on my profile. There are some good pictures that I post along with my story. There is also a great commissioned fanart in this chapter! Thank you for reading! :D


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